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Medical images, animated and in 3-D

Sarasota

BioLucid's lead special effects artist Nick Reid wears a pair of Oculus Rift virtual reality goggles to see a neuron living environment. The Sarasota technology firm started with hologram of the human heart. Current cardiac visualization allows cardiologists to show patients exactly how blocked their arteries are, and how the proposed procedure, typically a stent, will contain the risk. BioLucid is developing three-dimensional tours at the cellular level.

Published: Sunday, November 24, 2013 at 12:05 p.m.

Last Modified: Monday, November 25, 2013 at 11:21 a.m.

To get an idea about where Jeff Hazelton is going with BioLucid, the company he co-founded in Sarasota, he shows off an app that lets heart patients see their artery blockage and how installing a stent might alleviate the problem.

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Founded four years ago, BioLucid creates digital animations showing how the human body works, which the company markets to medical manufacturers and other industry professionals.

Now the company has a new goal: Sell its suite of applications directly to medical practitioners.

BioLucid has already created multiple examples of what it calls "living medical environments" -- basically "apps" that can highlight any number of organs and diseases.

One app shows diabetes patients how kidneys handle glucose.

Another demonstrates what artery blockages look like inside human beings and how, left untreated, they can blossom into a heart attack or cause heart disease, the nation's No. 1 killer.

To distribute this emerging product line, BioLucid, whose parent company is called Lucid Global, has established its own distribution system, called the Lucid Application Management System, or LAMS.

Employing about 30 people, BioLucid already holds the distinction of having hired more Ringling College of Art and Design graduates than any other single company in the world in 2012.

But Hazelton is not content to simply produce products that will help his company grow. He wants to revolutionize modern medicine by being at the center of an emerging industry built around what he calls "immersive technologies."

"This isn't really just about a company," Hazelton said, "more like an industry that can be grown here, where there are lots of opportunities."

The most labor-intensive part of his company's production, he notes, is creating realistic animated content that the company then depicts in an application.

To do that, he needs to attract the kinds of graduates that Ringling specializes in, ones with skills in complex computer animation and motion design.

That is welcome news at the college.

"Most of (our students) don't see enough opportunities to stay in Sarasota," said Charles Kovacs, director of career services at the college.

"Jeff and his company are the exceptions to that rule."

Still, convincing sought-after art students to stay here is a daunting task, especially since the school's 350 grads in 2012 were recruited by the likes of Intel Corp., Pixar Studios, Dreamworks and Leica.

Hazelton believes that while the video-gaming industry has moved to adopt the new high-tech toys, they have much wider applications.

BioLucid is also experimenting with immersive technologies that allow computer users to substitute hand motions made in the air for mouse clicks.

Virtual-reality goggles could play a big role.

"You see aspects of the gaming industry in lots of other places already, like database management or academics," said Aaron Davies, an executive at Oculus VR of California, which makes a newly developed set of virtual-reality goggles that Hazelton is using at his studio.

Virtual-reality goggles were first used by the military and, for the most part, they have remained too expensive for widespread consumer use -- until now.

Oculus' goggles, which are expected to hit the market in a matter of months, probably will be priced at several hundred dollars a pair. Even before its anticipated 2014 launch, Oculus has sold 40,000 developer kits of the goggles. The initial target audience is likely to be video gamers.

But one of the kits is at BioLucid's studio.

BioLucid has combined the goggles' technology with its immersive-visualization system, creating a demonstration in which users find themselves floating around inside bone marrow.

"By the time we hit consumer launch, there will be lots of other things outside the game space," Oculus VR's Davies said. "Virtual tourism is starting to get pretty hot in the development community."

Hazelton envisions that, as the goggles get tested further and enter the market, they could be used to market real estate for sale -- even to distant buyers.

It's that thinking that led the Gulf Coast Community Foundation in October to honor Hazelton with an innovation award for building a business around science, math and programming -- fields that the civic and charitable group wants to promote and nurture here.

The foundation is so committed to the idea that it tapped its Suzette Jones to be in charge of fielding even outlandish plans -- like the ones Hazelton is pursuing -- to nudge them along toward reality.

The foundation has come up with an equally ambitious name for its initiative: "BIG," which stands for "Bright Ideas on the Gulf Coast."

Jones agrees with Hazelton that the area has tremendous potential to capitalize on technological innovations and advancements.

"We have identified four major industries in which our region can compete with any region -- and one of them is digital arts and technology," Jones said.

"It is not just about creating games. It is stuff like this. We've got the brains, the labor force and the innovation."

Jones has already homed in on an application for the 3-D goggles that could revolutionize the fashion industry.

Clothing designers, she contends, could put their entire collections on 3-D video and show them via the goggles.

"Instead of flying everybody somewhere, this would be a whole new way of showing a portfolio," she said.

<p>To get an idea about where Jeff Hazelton is going with BioLucid, the company he co-founded in Sarasota, he shows off an app that lets heart patients see their artery blockage and how installing a stent might alleviate the problem.</p><p>Founded four years ago, BioLucid creates digital animations showing how the human body works, which the company markets to medical manufacturers and other industry professionals.</p><p>Now the company has a new goal: Sell its suite of applications directly to medical practitioners.</p><p>BioLucid has already created multiple examples of what it calls "living medical environments" -- basically "apps" that can highlight any number of organs and diseases.</p><p>One app shows diabetes patients how kidneys handle glucose.</p><p>Another demonstrates what artery blockages look like inside human beings and how, left untreated, they can blossom into a heart attack or cause heart disease, the nation's No. 1 killer.</p><p>To distribute this emerging product line, BioLucid, whose parent company is called Lucid Global, has established its own distribution system, called the Lucid Application Management System, or LAMS.</p><p>Employing about 30 people, BioLucid already holds the distinction of having hired more Ringling College of Art and Design graduates than any other single company in the world in 2012.</p><p>But Hazelton is not content to simply produce products that will help his company grow. He wants to revolutionize modern medicine by being at the center of an emerging industry built around what he calls "immersive technologies."</p><p>"This isn't really just about a company," Hazelton said, "more like an industry that can be grown here, where there are lots of opportunities."</p><p>The most labor-intensive part of his company's production, he notes, is creating realistic animated content that the company then depicts in an application.</p><p>To do that, he needs to attract the kinds of graduates that Ringling specializes in, ones with skills in complex computer animation and motion design.</p><p>That is welcome news at the college.</p><p>"Most of (our students) don't see enough opportunities to stay in Sarasota," said Charles Kovacs, director of career services at the college.</p><p>"Jeff and his company are the exceptions to that rule."</p><p>Still, convincing sought-after art students to stay here is a daunting task, especially since the school's 350 grads in 2012 were recruited by the likes of Intel Corp., Pixar Studios, Dreamworks and Leica.</p><p>Hazelton believes that while the video-gaming industry has moved to adopt the new high-tech toys, they have much wider applications.</p><p>BioLucid is also experimenting with immersive technologies that allow computer users to substitute hand motions made in the air for mouse clicks.</p><p>Virtual-reality goggles could play a big role.</p><p>"You see aspects of the gaming industry in lots of other places already, like database management or academics," said Aaron Davies, an executive at Oculus VR of California, which makes a newly developed set of virtual-reality goggles that Hazelton is using at his studio.</p><p>Virtual-reality goggles were first used by the military and, for the most part, they have remained too expensive for widespread consumer use -- until now.</p><p>Oculus' goggles, which are expected to hit the market in a matter of months, probably will be priced at several hundred dollars a pair. Even before its anticipated 2014 launch, Oculus has sold 40,000 developer kits of the goggles. The initial target audience is likely to be video gamers.</p><p>But one of the kits is at BioLucid's studio.</p><p>BioLucid has combined the goggles' technology with its immersive-visualization system, creating a demonstration in which users find themselves floating around inside bone marrow.</p><p>"By the time we hit consumer launch, there will be lots of other things outside the game space," Oculus VR's Davies said. "Virtual tourism is starting to get pretty hot in the development community."</p><p>Hazelton envisions that, as the goggles get tested further and enter the market, they could be used to market real estate for sale -- even to distant buyers.</p><p>It's that thinking that led the Gulf Coast Community Foundation in October to honor Hazelton with an innovation award for building a business around science, math and programming -- fields that the civic and charitable group wants to promote and nurture here.</p><p>The foundation is so committed to the idea that it tapped its Suzette Jones to be in charge of fielding even outlandish plans -- like the ones Hazelton is pursuing -- to nudge them along toward reality.</p><p>The foundation has come up with an equally ambitious name for its initiative: "BIG," which stands for "Bright Ideas on the Gulf Coast."</p><p>Jones agrees with Hazelton that the area has tremendous potential to capitalize on technological innovations and advancements.</p><p>"We have identified four major industries in which our region can compete with any region -- and one of them is digital arts and technology," Jones said.</p><p>"It is not just about creating games. It is stuff like this. We've got the brains, the labor force and the innovation."</p><p>Jones has already homed in on an application for the 3-D goggles that could revolutionize the fashion industry.</p><p>Clothing designers, she contends, could put their entire collections on 3-D video and show them via the goggles.</p><p>"Instead of flying everybody somewhere, this would be a whole new way of showing a portfolio," she said.</p>